This is a quickie. Sometimes, to set the record straight, quick & clean is the best way to go.

I honestly have a hard time determining when Tesla critics are intentionally misleading people and when they are just being idiotic. This past week or so is no exception, but it’s hard to believe it was the latter. (You’d have to be really idiotic to so blatantly get the story wrong on at least one of the two big Tesla news items I’m discussing below.)

For more than a decade, Tesla had a target to sell an “affordable” yet highly compelling electric car. It was the final objective in Tesla’s 2006 Secret Master Plan. When I wrote more than 3 years ago that Tesla’s master plan was coming to life, I was highlighting the company’s progress but also the point that its end goal was this affordable $35,000 car (the Tesla Model 3). Tesla doesn’t want to just sell $60,000+ cars to rich people at great margins. It wants to get the mass market to drive zero-emissions vehicles. That’s its core mission.

Everyone who has followed Tesla for more than a day in the past few years has basically learned that the $35,000 Model 3 is what tens of thousands of Tesla employees have been striving to create. Additionally, we know that it has taken longer than hoped for that version of the vehicle to arrive.

Nonetheless, when Elon Musk unveiled approximately a week and a half ago that the $35,000 Model 3 was finally available to order, many in the press acted as if this was a Hail Mary pass on 4th and long (that’s a football metaphor for anyone who doesn’t follow American football). Instead of highlighting a tremendously difficult achievement that took more than a decade of hard work, critics skipped past any praise and started claiming it was a sign of crisis. When’s the last time an Olympic athlete won a gold medal and the TV commenters tried to spin it in a negative way?

Perhaps even more ridiculous was what happened a few days later. In the middle of last year, responding to a question on Twitter, Elon Musk said that the Model Y would be revealed on March 15. Last week, Elon tweeted out that the event would be on March 14, just a day earlier. Critics across the Twittersphere, TV, and the commenting threads of websites like this one decided the Model Y reveal was yet another sign of desperation, of crisis, of a failing company and scrambling CEO. Tesla is fulfilling a plan announced publicly several months ago, but this is nonetheless being portrayed as a reactionary effort to stimulate positive hype. Wait, what?

These critics also seem to ignore that the Model Y could hurt Model 3 demand (so announcing it right now could be dangerous if Tesla is searching for more Model 3 consumer demand). In any case, how is an event that was announced a few quarters ago a last-minute stock-pumping exercise? #MakesNoSense

One thing is clear: certain Tesla critics are so blinded by their hate for Elon Musk and Tesla that they will twist like a Twizzler to spin a positive or neutral story negatively. Every piece of news is apparently a reason to buckle down in pessimism. Every announcement is a sign of crisis. How could it be anything else?

This is just a Saturday night rant about the immoral or idiotic spin Tesla trolls try to put on every Tesla story. I’ve advised many times that people should not feed the trolls, so I’ll get offline now.

About the Author

Zachary Shahan Zach is tryin’ to help society help itself (and other species). He spends most of his time here on CleanTechnica as its director and chief editor. He’s also the president of Important Media and the director/founder of EV Obsession and Solar Love. Zach is recognized globally as an electric vehicle, solar energy, and energy storage expert. He has presented about cleantech at conferences in India, the UAE, Ukraine, Poland, Germany, the Netherlands, the USA, and Canada. Zach has long-term investments in TSLA, FSLR, SPWR, SEDG, & ABB — after years of covering solar and EVs, he simply has a lot of faith in these particular companies and feels like they are good cleantech companies to invest in. But he offers no professional investment advice and would rather not be responsible for you losing money, so don’t jump to conclusions.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk said the automaker will one day make vehicles that cost less than its Model 3 sedan, which starts at $35,000 before federal and …

Tesla CEO Elon Musk said the automaker will one day make vehicles that cost less than its Model 3 sedan, which starts at $35,000 before federal and state incentives.

“Will there be future models that cost less? Yes, but they won’t be soon. It will be at least two to three years, probably closer to three years,” Musk said during a conference call with reporters on Thursday. On Wednesday, Tesla published a recording of the call on its website.

Musk declined to name price points for the future lower-priced vehicles, but he said during a 2018 interview with the YouTube personality Marques Brownlee that Tesla may make a car that costs $25,000. Musk said at the time that a $25,000 car could arrive in three years.

“If we work really hard, I think maybe we can do that in three years,” Musk said.

In a 2006 blog post, Musk described a long-term plan for Tesla to use the proceeds from high-end electric vehicles to fund the production of lower-priced vehicles.

“The strategy of Tesla is to enter at the high end of the market, where customers are prepared to pay a premium, and then drive down market as fast as possible to higher unit volume and lower prices with each successive model,” Musk said at the time.

Tesla’s first vehicle was its Roadster sports car. It followed the Roadster with the Model S, a luxury sedan, and the Model X, a luxury SUV. The $35,000 Model 3 is Tesla’s first vehicle priced for the mass market. Musk has said Tesla’s next vehicle, the Model Y crossover SUV, will cost about 10% more than the Model 3.

Tesla is moving on to online sales, worldwide. On Thursday, CEO Elon Musk says that Tesla vehicles can be bought online. A few of Tesla galleries …

Tesla is closing a few of its retail stores and will concentrate only on online sales.

Tesla is moving on to online sales, worldwide. On Thursday, CEO Elon Musk says that Tesla vehicles can be bought online.

A few of Tesla galleries will remain open for customers to see the vehicles they are going to purchase beforehand. Tesla will provide for online purchase with a revamped deposit, refund and return process, etc. on its sale.

Online sales will help to cut costs on its models. This is one way of cutting costs so that customers can buy the Standard range Model 3 at a low price of $35,000.

“As we close some of the brick and mortar stores, there will be a reduction in headcount and reduction in costs”, says Musk. Once the headcount is reduced, we can sell the car at $35,000, else this selling price cannot be met, says the CEO.

Further, online sales will reduce the transition cost by 5 to 6 percent which will also be savings for the company. Even Model X and S vehicles can be sold at lower costs through online sales, feels Musk.

Tesla has never required the traditional middleman dealer for its sales. Now, it will do without the salesperson pitch too.

Elon Musk says that the entire streamlined version will be as frictionless as possible. “The purchase of your car will take just a minute in the U.S. and we will soon make it easy in other countries as well”, says Elon Musk.

The online sale facility has been available on the company’s website even before it was made official. People prefer making online purchases and in 2019, the trend towards online sales will continue in all products, even in cars.

This is a great milestone for Tesla, says Jessica Caldwell, the executive director of the Edmunds industrial analysis.

Tesla will officially roll out its first ultra-fast Supercharger v3 station on Wednesday, says CEO Elon Musk in a tweet. The electric automaker’s new and …

Current generation Model S and X battery packs have a total voltage of around 375 volts. The Model 3, which utilizes slightly denser 2170 battery cells, is believed to have a total voltage of around 350 volts. While this may seem high, it’s important to note that the battery system’s voltage is less than half that of Porsche’s Taycan, which offers a charge from 0 to 80 percent in just 15 minutes.

Presently, it takes around 56 minutes to charge a Model 3 to 80 percent at a 120 kW Tesla Supercharger. Taking the Model 3’s battery pack voltage into consideration with its known max charging amperage of 525 amps, it’s possible that the Model 3 could benefit from charging up to about 180 kW, an increase of around 50 percent.

But while the current platform of vehicles may not greatly benefit from Tesla’s upgrade, the automaker may be looking to future-proof for its upcoming offerings. Both the next-generation Tesla Roadster and Tesla Semi are slated to carry extremely large battery packs, which would potentially take aim at higher operating voltage in order to accommodate a faster charging time.

Previously, Tesla has said that 99 percent of all individuals in the United States live within 150 miles of a Supercharger, making its network the most dense of any other EV charging provider in the country. Musk claimed that with the rollout of Supercharger V3, capacity is expected to double by the end of 2019 and 95 to 100 percent of individuals in all active markets will be withing range of a Supercharger.

Tesla’s has begun to invite winners of its referral program to attend a viewing of SpaceX’s upcoming Falcon Heavy launch at Cape Canaveral, Florida.

Tesla’s has begun to invite winners of its referral program to attend a viewing of SpaceX’s upcoming Falcon Heavy launch at Cape Canaveral, Florida.

Tesla’s invitation indicates that each referral program winner will be allowed to bring one guest to the special event. An agenda for the Falcon Heavy launch will also be provided within weeks of the launch.

You and a guest are invited to join us for an upcoming, once-in-a-lifetime experience: an exclusive viewing of a SpaceX Falcon Heavy launch.

You will receive a detailed agenda in advance. Please note that dates may be announced within weeks of the launch and are subject to change. Space is limited.

We look forward to seeing you.

The upcoming Falcon Heavy launch marks the first time SpaceX’s three-core rocket will blast off since its historic February debut last year when it carried Elon Musk’s personal Cherry Red Tesla Roadster — complete with Starman and a number of fun Easter Eggs — to space.

The upcoming launch represents SpaceX’s planned operational debut of Falcon Heavy, with the rocket being tasked to take an Arabsat 6A satellite into orbit. Despite its mission being all-business, the Falcon Heavy launch promises to be yet another unique experience for winners of Tesla’s referral program, as they will be able to witness the world’s most powerful operational rocket today in action.

An invitation for the Falcon Heavy’s launch was included in Tesla’s Referral Program, which was retired last month. The invitation was part of the program’s “Secret Levels,” and categorized under “Amazing Adventures.”

Tesla’s Referral Program featured several space-themed rewards. Apart from an invite to a Falcon Heavy launch, the electric car maker’s “Secret Levels” also had a perk called “Launch a Time Capsule into Space,” which features owners sending items to deep space orbit. Tesla owners with at least one qualifying referral were also given the opportunity to send a laser-etched photo of their choosing to space.

Tesla ended its popular Referral Program on Feb 2, 2019, after citing cost reductions as a primary reason for canceling the incentivized customer program. “It’s adding too much cost to the cars, especially Model 3,” Musk wrote on Twitter.

While the program was active, Tesla owners were given elaborate prizes that varied based on the number of Model S, Model X, and Model 3 referral sales made. Grand prize winners referring more than 50 vehicle sales qualified for a free next-generation Tesla Roadster. Some notable influencers within the community won as many as two Roadsters.